The main premise is simple. A French dance troupe, led by Selva (Sofia Boutella), get together for a few days in an isolated location to create a memorable routine. At the end of a long day, they all unwind with a small party. There's a DJ spinning tunes, and plenty of sangria. Unfortunately, someone has spiked the sangria with LSD. This leads to a hell of a bad trip for many of the dancers, to put it mildly, and death will visit some of them before the party ends.
Largely improvised, and made in a way that was relatively quick and cheap, Climax is an impressive journey from sheer joy to outright terror. And it's very surprising to find Noé in a slightly restrained mode. Never the most subtle director, or the most overly concerned with the comfort of viewers, Noé seems to finally realise that he can upset and unnerve people without having to show every nasty little detail onscreen. But fans of his work need not be alarmed, this doesn't make the content here any less effective. Once Climax starts hurtling off the rails of sanity, it's an unstoppable juggernaut thrashing through a terrain of dread and distress.
It's also a gorgeous film. Seriously, the framing of certain moments, the flowing camerawork and the extended take that makes up most of the second half of the movie. It's a directorial trademark, of course, but works better here than it has in most of Noé's other movies, and I have to namecheck regular collaborator Benoît Debie for the luscious, perhaps even ever-so-slightly seductive, cinematography.
Although some individuals do stand out in certain scenes, and Boutella stands out as the performer with the most acting experience (as far as I'm aware), this is a group collaboration from start to finish. That includes a superb dance sequence in the opening act, the various conversations that take part between people as they relax during the party, and also any scenes featuring the dancers dancing, fighting, or fucking one another. The physicality is impressive throughout, and everyone involved should be praised for their commitment to the project, and their faith in Noé.
The other big thing to praise here is the fantastic soundtrack. Unrelenting for most of the runtime, it helps to both lighten and darken the scenes (depending on what part of what song is playing). Those featured include Daft Punk, Gary Numan, Patrick Hernandez, M/A/R/R/S, Aphex Twin, Soft Cell, and a few more, so you can at least have happy ears while your eyes are being made to suffer.
8/10
You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy the movie here.
Thanks for this review! I had actually forgotten that this had come out and prompted by your sterling write-up, I threw it in the queue and watched it this past weekend. Dang, this is another tough one to watch, but as with all of Noe's films that I've seen (still have not caught up with "Love"), the journey is worth your while. We may not "enjoy" his films, but there's no denying the skill on display. The dance sequences are especially amazing - I'm always impressed with what the human body can do, and the camerawork matches them beat for beat.
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Question (and PM me if you feel it's a spoiler): Who is that we see at the very beginning of the film out in the snow? I have to admit, the characters occasionally blend together and I couldn't figure out who it might have been except maybe our resident coke addict?
Hey buddy, still having intermittent problems with comment notifications (hence the slightly delayed reply).
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I believe the figure crawling through the snow was the one self-harming after being accused of spiking the punch and even faking her pregnancy. I could be wrong though, it was hard to keep track of everyone.